The
appointments of three new department heads and a new executive associate
dean in the College of Engineering at the University of Illinois at
Chicago were approved last Thursday at a meeting of the university's
Board of Trustees.

Kenneth
Brezinsky now heads the department of chemical engineering; Mitra Dutta
heads the newly formed department of electrical and computer engineering;
Peter Nelson heads the department of computer science, also newly formed;
and Ishwar Puri is the college's new executive associate dean.

Brezinsky,
Nelson and Puri are current faculty members at UIC. Dutta comes to UIC
from Research Triangle Park, N.C., where she was a director with the
U.S. Army Research Office.

"I
am pleased to have these four individuals assume leadership positions
in the College of Engineering," said Lawrence Kennedy, dean of the college.
"Each individual is an outstanding engineer-scientist who brings to
his or her respective position a commitment to make UIC's engineering
and computer science programs among the best in the country."

Brezinsky,
a professor of chemical engineering, began teaching at UIC in September
1996. His research focuses primarily on combustion chemistry, supercritical
hydrocarbon fluids and combustion synthesis of materials. Brezinsky
first taught junior high students in Manhattan after earning his B.S.
in chemistry from the City College of the City University of New York.
He did postdoctoral research and was a lecturer at Princeton University
after earning his Ph.D. in physical chemistry from CUNY.

Dutta's
research has focused on solid-state physics, as well as electronic and
optoelectronic devices. In addition to heading the U.S. Army's Research
and Technology Integration Directorate,

Dutta
has held adjunct professor positions at Rutgers University, the University
of Maryland, North Carolina State University in Raleigh and the University
of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She has authored or coauthored over
350 publications and presentations and holds 26 patents in the United
States and Canada. Dutta earned a B.Sc. from Gauhati University, an
M.Sc. in physics from the University of Delhi, and M.S. and Ph.D. degrees
in physics from the University of Cincinnati.

Nelson
has been on the UIC faculty since 1988 and has directed the university's
Artificial Intelligence Laboratory since 1991. He specializes in developing
fast, efficient artificial intelligence search techniques with projects
in such areas as transportation, molecular biology, manufacturing optimization
and computer networking. His work included development of artificial
intelligence software tools for the Human Genome Project. Nelson earned
a B.A. at North Park College in Chicago. He did his graduate work at
Northwestern University, where he earned M.S. and Ph.D. degrees.

Puri
began teaching at UIC in 1990 as a visiting assistant professor. He
became a permanent faculty member in 1991. A fellow in the American
Society of Mechanical Engineers, Puri is the author of numerous papers
and has lectured widely. His research focuses on combustion, flame ignition
and extinction, fire spread and inhibition, pollutant formation and
laser diagnostics.

Puri
previously served as associate dean for research and graduate studies
at UIC's College of Engineering. In his new position, he administers
the academic affairs of both undergraduate and graduate programs. He
earned a B.S. in mechanical engineering from the University of Delhi
and M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in applied mechanics from the University
of California at San Diego.